Dr. Lynch selected for national leadership program’s new class of fellows

Philadephia, PA (April, 2012) – Dr. Catherine Lynch of the University of South Florida is among the senior women faculty members selected for The Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Lynch, associate vice president for women’s health, associate dean for faculty development, and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, will participate in the prestigious program’s 2012-2013 class of Fellows.

This is the 18th incoming class for ELAM®, the only program in the U.S. dedicated to preparing senior women faculty for positions of leadership at academic health centers, where they can ultimately play a role in academic health organizations becoming more inclusive of different perspectives and responsive to societal needs and expectations.

ELAM also aims to increase the diversity of women in leadership positions, and to continue to expand its reach beyond the U.S. ELAM welcomed women from Canada in years past and extended to Europe for the first time in 2010, with a Fellow from the U.K. This year marks another first for the program, as it welcomes a fellow from a new country – Saudi Arabia.

USF Health's Dr. Catherine Lynch is a member of 2012-13 Class of Fellows for ELAM

“The diversity of this class is evident in the inclusion of women from outside our national borders, various backgrounds and experiences, and from 48 different institutions, four of which are new to ELAM,” said Diane Magrane, M.D., director of Drexel’s International Center for Executive Leadership in Academics, which hosts the ELAM program.

To be accepted into the program, each Fellow must be nominated and supported by the dean or other senior official of her institution. ELAM continues to cultivate strong partnerships with participating institutions throughout the year-long fellowship. One aspect of this relationship is the curricular requirement to conduct an Institutional Action Project, developed in collaboration with the Fellows’ dean or other senior official. These action projects are designed to address an institutional or departmental need or priority.

“We are extremely excited to see the impact these women will have on their institutions as they work through the ELAM curriculum and develop their action projects,” Magrane said. “The projects the Fellows conduct not only help them understand the challenges facing academic health centers and the skills a leader must possess to address these challenges, but also often result in concrete changes at their institutions.”

The work for this incoming class begins in May with online assignments and community building activities that continue through the end of the program in April 2013. Fellows begin the first of three week-long, in-residence sessions when they meet for the first time at the ACE Conference Center in Lafayette Hill, PA, on Sept. 8, 2012.

ELAM is a core program of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership® at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. The Institute continues the legacy of advancing women in medicine that began in 1850 with the founding of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first women’s medical school and a predecessor of today’s Drexel University College of Medicine. For more information on the ELAM program curriculum, faculty and participants, visit www.drexelmed.edu/elam